Fot. Rohatyn Jewish Heritage
In his speech, Professor Piotr Gliński, Vice-President of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Poland and the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, said, "Today is not just about the celebration of the memory of the victims and heroes of Sobibór. It is also meant to remind us about the threat of racism and criminal prejudices towards others. […] We have the moral imperative to do all within our powers to relieve the world of such acts."
Representatives of the states that co-created the International Steering Committee for the construction of the Museum and Memorial in Sobibór also took the floor: Israeli Ambassador Anna Azari; Angelique Berg, Director General for Public Health at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; and the Ambassador of the Republic of Slovakia, Dušan Krištofík. The next speaker was Russian Ambassador Sergey Andreev.
Jarosław Sellin - the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and Chairperson of the International Steering Committee for the Construction of the Museum and Memorial in Sobibór - and Dr. Tomasz Kranz, Director of the State Museum at Majdanek, both underlined the significance of the museum for future generations. "I hope you will support the activities of the museum, the primary mission of which is to uphold the memory of the victims and transfer knowledge of the events that took place in Sobibór in the years 1942-1943. The responsibility to give testimony now rests with us," Kranz emphasized.
The construction of the museum and the new spatial plan of the Sobibór Memorial referred to in the speeches is an international venture. Its implementation is managed by the Steering Committee, which was founded in 2008 comprised of representatives of four states: Poland, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Israel.